Test Car Specifications
Model tested: Ariel Nomad
Price: from £33,000
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol
Transmission: six-speed close ratio manual, rear-wheel drive
Body style: off-road car
CO2 emissions: 205g/km (Band K, £290 per year)
Top speed: 125mph
0-62mph: 3.4 seconds
Power: 235hp at 7,200rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 4,300rpm
What's this?
A new direction for Ariel, maker of exo-skeletal tubular-framed sports cars. That direction is towards the hills, specifically, which, given Ariel headquarters' green and pleasant location, is hardly surprising. Indeed, the number of motocross and mountain bikes littered around Ariel's Somerset HQ and production facility (as well as the boss's Defender) makes it surprising it's taken the company so long.
It might look like Ariel has simply jacked up the suspension, welded on a few more bars over your head and added some knobbly tyres, but that does the Ariel Nomad a disservice. It actually shares little but its floor pan and a few tubes and mounts with its road and track relation, the Atom. This approach underline's the firm's exacting engineering standards, so the Nomad is virtually all-new, though just as exposed and hardcore as you'd expect. There's a different engine in the back to the Atom too, though it's still a Honda four-cylinder, this time a 2.4-litre unit sourced from a US specification Civic. It's been picked as its torque characteristics are better suited to the Nomad's off-road application. It's naturally aspirated, but the likelihood is a supercharged version will follow.
Like the Atom there's plenty of scope for personalisation, making your Nomad as mild (or 'fairly wild' by any normal measure) or wild (i.e. seriously extreme) as you like, with suspension and brake packages, as well as wheel and tyre options and a whole host more - hydraulic fly-off handbrake anyone? You can have it. Driven here fitted with that handbrake, its most extreme Ohlins hydraulic dampers with two-piece springs and BF Goodrich Mud Terrain off-road tyres on 15-inch wheels it's a Nomad set up for the wilds, though with one concession to practicality is the optional windscreen.
How does it drive?
That windscreen does reduce a degree of buffeting, but it does little to keep you dry or clean. The Nomad is about as visceral and exciting a machine as you could ever clamber into. Clicking the removable steering wheel into place, glancing down at the smart column and steering box it links to and placing your feet on the Tilton pedals feels special. The digital dash is simple, its numerous toggle switches and dials controlling everything from indicators to the brake bias. The lightweight seats grip tightly, the multi-point harness holding you in, the Nomad serious in its specification, though hilarious in its execution.
Few cars have the capacity to thrill as much as the Nomad. Starting up the 2.4-litre four-cylinder unit reveals an engine without the 2.0-litre's smoothness, but it pulls with more conviction from low revs. The gearshift is an absolute joy, while you don't just feel what the steering is doing; you can see it, too, through that open chassis. All of which demands some additional protection: driving the Nomad without waterproofs and eyewear is unadvisable, and a shower at home in the garage is also well worth considering. That, though, is to its credit, as the Nomad is a gloriously, ridiculously compromised machine on so many levels, but one we'd happily use as a daily driver such is the fun it delivers.
The 2.4-litre engine's 235hp doesn't have too much mass to shift around, Ariel quoting 675kg in pared-back standard guise, though even a spare wheel, the windscreen, those off-road tyres and suspension upgrades and the windscreen are likely to add only around 100kg to that. Still, it makes light work of it, the 2.4-litre engine officially managing a 0-62mph of 3.4 seconds. That's likely to be a little slower as specified, but by no means tardy on the road. That it's quick isn't really a surprise, what is though is just how well it controls its speed, regardless of what terrain the wheels are running over.
It looks like it'll be hugely capable in the mire, and it proves so, the Nomad tackling any off-road conditions you're prepared to drive or leap it through, over, around or above. It's never anything but hugely entertaining when doing so. Mucky, too. On the road, the suspension delivers a supreme ride and useful measured movement in bends, the steering and chassis allowing the Nomad's limits to be easily read, so there's fun to be had at any speed. On off-road rubber on tarmac those limits are not particularly high, which makes for an amusingly mobile rear. You need to be measured with your braking too, as there's no anti-lock assistance. A different wheel and tyre package is likely to improve that. Good pedal feel helps, the brakes giving as much information as all of the Nomad's controls; that's to say plenty, all the time. As fun goes there's nothing quite like it, regardless of where you choose to drive.
Verdict
The Ariel Nomad is obviously compromised, though arguably less so than its Atom relation. Nonetheless, it's hugely entertaining, and even though the Nomad might ultimately be a plaything, it's a compelling one. We'd use it every day if we had one, it's that much fun, but we'd be investing in some serious wet-weather gear to do so, and might suggest a helmet, too. That's whether you've gone for the optional windscreen or not. Spend time poring over the details and the Nomad reveals a level of build, attention to detail and engineering integrity that's as impressive as the drive itself. Little wonder the order books are full for the foreseeable future.
Exterior Design
Interior Ambience
Passenger Space
Luggage Space
Safety
Comfort
Driving Dynamics
Powertrain
